Hills of Gold Wind Farm

Nundle and it’s surrounds are a wonderful historic account of Australia past and As city residents, we love the absolute tranquillity we get we will visit Nundle. My kids love to fossick in the creeks, look for sapphire’s up on the range and look for beautiful birds. I am sure that my children will bring their children to Nundle in 20 or so years’ time. I hope the area is not destroyed by those ugly wind turbines. This project needs to be stopped, we have too much to lose. Surely the wind turbines could be placed along the highways in NSW instead.

I object to this project in the strongest possible terms.

The environmental impact of this project is staggeringly under estimated by excluding extensive alleged illegal land clearing that has been undertaken in recent years across the proposed development site, on land owned by the primary beneficiary of this project. The fact that these impacts are not included the EIS is deceptive and misleading. It is astounding that these alleged illegal land clearing activities can be undertaken with total disregard for the EIS required as part of a State Significant Development.

The lack of attention to the impacts on the Chaffey Dam water catchment are confounding. The proposed site takes in approximately 50% of the perimeter of the catchment for Chaffey Dam which is the main source of drinking water for the 50,000 residents of Tamworth downstream, amongst other users. The long term impacts of these activities must be understood and to proceed without due consideration is grossly negligent.

Ben Halls Gap National Park is a closed access park for very good reasons, including the "over-riding need to protect the park’s conservation values", to protect the endangered sphagnum moss cool temperate rainforest community and to protect other threatened native plant, animal species and insects . Increased traffic into surrounding areas will compromise the ability to conserve and protect this extremely sensitive environment for future generations.

The proposed wind turbines will most likely rotate at different speeds. The combined effect leading to a low droning sound propagating down the valleys and being audible at some distance. I believe this will create a disturbance and annoyance for residents of the area and interfere with the normal habits of the local wildlife.

I support this project. Having strong connections to the hanging rock community, I feel this project will serve the community well for many years to come; providing sustainable energy source as well as direct and indirect job creation in the area for those who have previously relied upon tourism as their main clientele and business trade.
Whilst some may argue that this project will see a decline in tourism, others including myself will suggest that the novelty and attention this project is getting will actually see an increase in tourist trade and strengthen long term viability and economic standing of the Nundle and Hanging Rock communities.
The project is well positioned to support the forthcoming decommissioning of Liddel power station. This project solves an power supply issue and long term sustainability and provides an environmentally friendly power source replacement.
The hills proposed for the placement of turbines are perfectly positioned for maximum power generation.

Fully supportive of the project and very much hope for it to go ahead.

Dear Sir/ Madam

After due thought I have decided that the turbines which are planned for the mountains, part of the Great DivIding Range,overlooking the beautiful Timor /Green creek valley , with their impact requiring denuding the trees on the mountain tops .. Massive clearing required.
They are part of a ring of mountains, remains of an ancient volcano visible from a high point on the road coming from Murrurundi ....what a pity !! They look magnificent after a snow fall ..attracts people from miles around .
Also the impact upon the beautiful eagles ...already threatened by the environment,so few remaining .
So I wish to register my strong objection to this wind farm
I am in favour of wind farms but feel this is not an appropriate location - in this pristine area.

I feel the town of Nundle needs the Windfarm to provide much needed jobs and economy to the town which will only encourage tourism, new residents, new enrolments in the school and overall improvement to an otherwise declining town

This is the only way to help keep the small town alive. Will create jobs and more tourism. What a great project.

I have lived near Nundle for most of my life and it would be truly terrible for me to see such a beautiful part of our country to be decimated by this project

This project is a further step in the right direction towards becoming less reliant on fossil fuels for our energy needs. Projects like these need to be embraced, supported and encouraged. We need to listen to the science, not opinions with obvious other agendas

Misinformation spread by the likes of Barnaby Joyce about the shortfallls of renewable energy compared to fossil fuels needs to be carefully scrutinised

I had to leave my home because there was no work for myself a single mother and very limited care for my child. The town is dying and needs to catch up with the evolving society we live in. I lost employment due to support of the wind farm and some of the citizens of the nundle/ hanging rock area have been treated in such a horrendous manner for showing support for the wind farm. I personally have pointed out that the concerns the opposition have for the wind farm is very similar to the impacts the deforestation has but not public outcry for that development. I give full support for the development

I support the Hills of Gold Windfarm because:
1.The project will produce 1,100 gigawatt hrs of clean renewable energy.
This is important because Australia is one of the countries most prone to the adverse effects of Climate Change
so a reduction in the production of green house gases is imperative.
The polluting, green house gas producing Liddell Power Station will close down in 2023 and NSW will need more supplies of renewable energy such as the Hills of Gold Wind Farm to replace Liddell and other coal fired power stations which are due to close within this decade.
This project will assist NSW in its aim to become carbon neutral by 2050
2. The Project is situated very close to the existing Liddell to Tamworth transmission line.
The Project's substation will be approximately 18.8 km from this transmission line.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to support this essential project.w

I am writing to raise very serious concerns and my strong objection to the proposed Hills of Gold Wind Farm. My family own land in the Timor community, who will be directly and adversely affected by the proposed Project.

Please see my attached submission, which I hope will clearly convince you of the need to reject this Project and call for any unauthorised land clearing of vegetation (which includes threatened/endangered species habitats) to be ceased immediately.

Thank you for your understanding.

I have attached my submission as PDF document

What can I say... wrong place for a wind farm

Here are specific questions for the proponent which I expect to be addressed directly.

The proposed wind farm is in the wrong place. I am not against renewable energy or wind farms.
The region is unique with natural, cultural and historic significance. The ecosystems in the region are fragile.
There are sites of importance to Aboriginal and early European history including the gold digging.
There is strong opposition by the local community who feel that they have not been adequately consulted. At public hearing voices of dissent were muzzled or dismissed.
Neighbours impacted by the wind farm have not been consulted fully, nor had their concerns addressed nor have they been adequately compensated.
There are issues on the impact of construction. This includes road access to get the machinery to the sites that would need to be constructed to get the towers in situ.
The visual impact is significant in an area of natural beauty.
The environmental impacts of the wind farm have not been fully assessed. The impacts on the Headwaters of the Peel River that supply Tamworth and the region with their water supply. The long term impacts on wild life and even the possibilities of impacting the microclimate of the region needs to be taken into account.
The proposed developers of the site who have been negotiating with the communities and authorities have already sold the project on.This raises the issue of accountability.

The question of end of life management of removal of the towers when they reach their use by date need to be specified.
The benefits to the community do not match the costs and loss of amenity . The community feel that their views have not been fully considered.
In conclusion there are many reasons to deny this development project. The most significant is the community opposition and the lack of community benefits. I oppose this project.

Wind farms are the future for Australia, the position of this farm is highly suitable to provide an environmentally conscious source of power. This is a very important project!

I believe that it will benefit the area

I object to the Hills of Gold Wind Farm.

My objections are as follows and project should not be given approval.

The windfarm will cause significant visual impacts to the Historical village of Nundle. The sense of place and beauty of the area will be destroyed forever. I am a regular visitor to the Nundle and Hanging Rock area.

Traffic Impacts along the proposed transport route through Muswellbrook LGA along Wybong, Kayuga and Dartbrook Roads. These roads are not suitable for oversize and long loads. These roads are also very busy during shift change with mine workers using these roads when oversize loads are expected to be using these minor roads. Even with significant modifications the roads are not suitable. A condition should be imposed that the ENGIE contribute to road network upgrades within the Muswellbrook Shire LGA transport route. From my review of the ENGIE Engagement Register, No Consultation has occurred with Muswellbrook Shire Council, which is a concern.

Decommissioning - There is no protection for the community of Nundle if ENGIE become insolvent. The responsibility and liability for decommissioning sits with the landholder and it is very unlikely they will have the resourcing or funds to pull down and rehabilitate the site in 20 years time. A condition needs to be imposed the require ENGIE to have a decommissioning fund held within DPIE to ensure the community is not left with any legacy issues. It is likely that the Host landholder agreements are inadequate to deal with this liability and the total funds received by the land holder for hosting turbines would not cover the full decommissioning and rehabilitation cost of the site.
There should also be estimate rehabilitation cost calculations for the site included in EIS. This has not been considered by ENGIE.

DPIE need to review the Host Landholder Agreements to ensure they are adequate with regards to decommissioning costs. A copy of the Host Landholder Agreements should be included in the EIS as ENGIE has done with the Neighbour Agreement.

Regards
Peter York

I attach Submission 5 with objections to the Hills of Gold Wind Farm SSD-9679.More submissions concerned with other relevant parts of the EIS will follow.

This submission deals with the following objections:
-lack of assessment or independent study to ensure the protection of the hydrology, in particular the first order water courses within the Project area.
-the unacceptable risk to the endangered Booroolong Frog, due to erosion that will affect its water quality source and hence its survival.
- the lack of consultation with the Timor community about water usage and impact of 55ML use of water by this Project on the existing community
-the lack of any mention of over-sighting of potential water licenses and usage by the Proponent for a commercial project in agricultural land.
-the lack of any meaningful consultation as required under SEARs with relevant Agencies or community, concerned with soils and water.
-the lack of any assessment at all on the karst environment and the unacceptable risk of erosion and silting in the cave systems with protects 7 species of identified threatened bats